Cerritos area Video Game enthusiasts should be excited. There is a brand-new dedicated eSports facility in nearby Orange County. To be fair, it opened near the end of 2015 but flew under the radar.

But what if you are into eSports? Why should you care? The reason is that eSports have become a huge global economy. Revenues are predicted to surpass the 1.65-billion-dollar mark by the year 2020. To put this into perspective, eSports are so popular that just like, baseball, basketball, or football, online betting sites like Bovada and sportsbooks in Las Vegas offer odds on the tournaments and matches.

eSports is opening doors to new jobs all over the world. Not just creating a job space for professional video game players, but in social media, journalism, marketing, events promotions, even construction. Pretty much all of the types of job titles that would be needed to support a professional sports team or league have a variant that is needed to keep eSports up and running.

Esports Arena

This venue is unique because of it’s modular setup. They are able to host all types of eSports events and quickly switch between tournament types. It also allows for eSports promoters to rent space and equipment for events at a much lower cost than traditional arenas. It is engrained in SoCal community and culture. Many eSports arenas only hold major events with massive prize pools. Esports Arena Orange County will host such titles, but they focus on community-driven events. The facility even has a full cafe and bar to stay hydrated and fed while you watch the events or compete.

The eSports community has been booming since the inauguration of ESPORTS ARENA Orange County. Since 2015, revenue has tripled. Global markets generated around 325 million dollars in 2015. At this point in 2018, worldwide revenues have hit just under a billion dollars. Analysts are expecting 1.2 billion next year, just under 1.5 billion in 2020, and 1.65 billion in 2021.

The growth shows when you look at the bookings in Santa Ana’s Arena. They have steady events running through the entire month of December, including the Pokemon Championships and Wednesday Night Fights, a weekly Level Up Series event that gathers the best and brightest of Southern California’s fighting game community.

“Esports Arena is capable of building and sustaining audiences over an extended period of time allowing the esports world to have consistent national events and competitions on any title – any time.”

Falcon Punch Fridays is another weekly tournament that is filling the 15,000 square-foot venue on a regular basis. This ‘bring your own Wii controller’ event is a singles bracket, double-elimination Super Smash Brothers tournament with a $10 venue fee and $5 entry fee. But, you get $5 off your venue fee if you are a carpool driver!

Circling back to major events, Esports Arena Orange County recently held the HTC Hearthstone Tournament. This event had 110 Hearthstone gamers go head to head through their brackets in nine rounds until the eventual winner took home their chunk of the $15,000 prize pool.

If you love gaming, you don’t have to wait until another major tournament comes to town. Just take the short drive to downtown Santa Ana on a Wednesday or Friday night and join the action at Esports Arena Orange County.